Proverbs 25:4

Remove the dross from the silver, and material ¹  for the silversmith will emerge;

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silversmith;

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Take away the dross from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Remove the dross from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Remove impurities from the silver and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;

SABDAweb Pro 25:4

Take away the waste from silver, and a vessel will come out for the silver-worker.

bibleoremus Pro 25:4

Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Take away the dross from silver, And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.

biblegateway Pro 25:4

Remove the dross from the silver, and material ¹  for the silversmith will emerge;

¹ tn The Hebrew כֶּלִי (keli) means “vessel; utensil” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). But purging dross from silver does not produce a “vessel” for the silversmith. Some versions therefore render it “material” (e.g., NIV, NRSV). The LXX says “that it will be entirely pure.” So D. W. Thomas reads כָּלִיל (kalil) and translates it “purified completely” (“Notes on Some Passages in the Book of Proverbs,” VT 15 [1965]: 271-79; cf. NAB). W. McKane simply rearranges the line to say that the smith can produce a work of art (Proverbs [OTL], 580; cf. TEV “a thing of beauty”). The easiest explanation is that “vessel” is a metonymy of effect, “vessel” put for the material that goes into making it (such metonymies occur fairly often in Psalms and Proverbs).